31 Done

In the quiet of the car on the way back, Amber sang, barely letting her voice rise beyond a deep whisper; to not wake Dom as he slept in the seat beside her. Something that she had heard on the radio in the kitchen one day as she made breakfast, it had wormed its way into her head and wouldn’t leave. The wide empty spaces of the desert, the warm rain scented air that gusted through the rolled down windows, all made it easier to let it go.

Dom didn’t wake or if he did, he didn’t ask her to stop. It felt good. Amber knew that she couldn’t sing worth a damn but that was one of the benefits of living out in the middle of nowhere; she could talk to herself if she wanted to and she could definitely sing. Her life was hers to do with as she wanted.

Dom tensed before waking suddenly as she pulled into the driveway, for a moment disoriented until he looked over at Amber; he was still holding her hand. “Come sleep with me.” Deep, something soft in his voice and expression as he sat beside her in the front seat. The words felt strange and new; not ‘come fuck’ but ‘come sleep’ and at the moment that was all that he wanted, more than anything. To just curl her up close to him and sleep with her.

The diner was busy; Amber had counted off the cars as she pulled in. She wanted to be with Dom, to feel the warm weight of him curled behind her as he caught up on the sleep that he had clearly missed. Their connection was still strong, an electric feel that had them both look up, seeking something in the other before anything could be said. “I’d like to, but,” she looked over her shoulder at the back door of the diner. “Mia is going to need me.”

I need you too, he thought but stowed it, pulling her close, tangling his fist in her hair as mouths met, hot and wet, insistent. The heat from before wasn’t anywhere near gone between them and minutes spun out as Amber leaned across the seat, her hand on his thigh, kissing him deeply. “Later then,” he insisted as the kiss broke, intent on her until she nodded. “Good. Give me a couple of minutes to get changed out of this shit and then I’ll come in and help out.”

“Shouldn’t you…”

“Mia needs us both,” he interrupted, knowing Amber would insist he sleep, as much as she was able to insist. He’d like nothing more than to sleep for at least a few hours, preferably more, preferably with Amber beside him, but he wouldn’t do that to Mia; that Amber wouldn’t leave Mia in the lurch either meant a lot to him. “Couple of minutes,” he repeated, not letting go of her at once, playing with a piece of her hair before pulling back.

The diner was packed and noisy when Amber pulled open the back door; she quickly threw on an apron and started to get plates ready after a quick wave to Mia. Too busy to speak. Once Mia had moved back to the broiler, Amber moved in and started to put together the orders. Out front, Brian came back from a table, pinning up a bill, apologizing for his chicken scratch, before dropping off some dirty dishes in the back.

When Amber had yelled out to him to stop and had the order straightened out, she turned back to Mia. “Has it been like this all morning?” She felt guilty and pushed it into the background; Mia would never get pissed off with her.

“It gets a little nuts when it clears up out here, especially in the morning.” A platter of bacon and sausage appeared at Amber’s side and then Mia was gone again and Amber plated up another couple of breakfasts, putting the dishes up, pegging the bill and calling for Brian in a clear voice. It had gotten so ingrained that Amber barely thought about her actions anymore, at her confidence. “Glad you’re here.”

Amber smiled, not turning around. “Dom’ll be in in a couple of minutes; he just needed to get changed.” Putting up another order, Amber blushed; she had made Dom late, and everyone would know why he was late. It felt good and nerve-wracking all at once.

“Oh thank god,” Mia whispered as she came up on Amber’s other side with a pan of hash browns. When Brian had darted off with what few plates he could carry, she continued, “I love him, but he’s no Dom.”

As a dish crashed to the floor out front, Amber got her hand over her mouth to stifle the laugh. The idea of Dom waiting tables had been an eye opener; that he was good at it was something else entirely.

“Our little secret.” Mia pointed out at Brian as she darted around the counter to peer at the table that just lost their breakfast, waving at them discreetly before writing the order on the back of a bill and slipping it into the wheel.

“Holy fuck, how bad is it?” Dom bellowed as he strode through the back door, brushing over Amber’s hip as he walked through the kitchen. In answer, Mia just pointed up front and threw a grin over her shoulder. Brian. “That bad, huh?” Shaking his head, Dom tied an apron low around his hips, dropping a pad of paper and pen in a pocket and pushed open the swinging doors into the front of the diner.

“You tryin’ to put us out of business, surfer boy?” Dom barked out good-naturedly as he neared the pass through, shaking his head as he tried to make sense of Brian’s byzantine order taking method. Even in this, Dom strove to win, besting Brian easily.

Brian balanced another plate along his arm and smirked over at Dom. “Doesn’t matter. They keep coming back for more anyway.” Before he left to drop the plates off, he leaned in and whispered quietly to Dom, “We need to talk after.”

With that, he was gone and Dom narrowed his eyes as he wondered what could have Brian so serious. There wasn’t much time to think about it, as more people piled in the front door. Dom didn’t push, but he ended up taking most of the tables, with Brian keeping the front counter stocked with filled coffee cups and helping bring out the orders. With Brian, customers liked to stop and talk, but Dom was all business and few people kept him waiting.

Breakfast service continued until well after lunch, with the growing heat of the day driving people out into their cars, back to their lives. They filed out again in ones and twos until the diner was empty, nothing but the sound of Dom and Brian clearing up, loading dishes into tubs and helping Amber and Mia clean up, get shut down.

The two men picked the remains of breakfast clean, grabbing up the extra toast and sausages, Dom shaking his head at seeing Brian with another strip of bacon hanging out of his mouth. “Where the fuck do you put all that?”

Brian laughed, patting his belly. “Hot engine, bro. I’ll burn this off in no time.”

Amber and Mia were already out back at the picnic table, eating toast, when Dom and Brian sat down. It was comfortable, with Dom sitting easily next to Amber, his hand on her thigh. Just as Dom was about to ask Brian what it was that he wanted to talk about, they all looked up at the sound of tires biting into gravel.

“You went and started without me,” Jim drawled as he slammed the door of his tow truck, stretching and walking over to the table, taking a seat on the end. Dom was already on his feet, pulling the old man into a short, hard hug, clapping him hard on the back before he let him go. Brian reached out and shook Jim’s hand, holding him by the wrist for a moment.

“Sit, I’ll get you something,” Mia spoke excitedly, grinning from ear to ear at seeing him again. Jim tried to wave her off to no avail, Mia was already halfway towards the diner already. Amber jumped up after her, drawing Dom’s eye; he wanted to insist that she sit, eat her breakfast, but let her go with Mia.

“It’s good to see you again,” Dom thumped Jim on the back once more, the emotion heartfelt. “You pulled it out of the fire back there.”

“Told you I had your back, son.” Taking a seat finally, he reached out and stole a piece of Brian’s toast, smirking at Dom, a subtle movement that someone else might not have noticed. “Where’s the peckerwood?” Jim asked with good cheer, looking for signs of Eddie’s vehicle.

“Good, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” Brian spoke around a mouthful of sausage.

Dom sat and leaned against the table, elbows resting as he concentrated on Brian; he’d never say it aloud but the fact was that Dom was concerned about Eddie. When the agent had given his keys to Vince, it had brought back the memory of Brian doing the same thing, of what it had cost Brian to do so. It surprised him that he didn’t wish the agent ill. Dom didn’t ask in words, but he asked all the same, as did Jim.

“If Eddie doesn’t get that car back, he’s fucked,” Brian stated quietly; if anyone knew just how fucked Eddie was, it was Brian.

They were quiet, no one daring to say the first thought; that maybe Eddie had it coming. Except that he didn’t. Maybe he had at first, but it changed when he had thrown down with them, putting his career, his life, on the line. “Vince’ll bring it back.” Dom couldn’t be positive, there were no guarantees. Just a gut feeling deep down where he lived and breathed.

“And if he don’t?” Jim asked, an eyebrow quirking up.

“He gets a car to replace it. If he wants it. He say he wants it?” It was a guarded question, directed only at Brian.

“Not really a matter of want, he needs it, or he’s done. He didn’t ask, but he needs it.” Brian felt cold thinking, remembering, what it was like to pace back and forth out in the hallway at the agency. There were times when he had wished that Dom had brought the car back, when he had been pissed off when he hadn’t. That faded fast but only because Brian knew that he’d do it again in a heartbeat. The same couldn’t be said of Eddie, Brian was pretty sure.

“We owe him, even if I still think he’s an asshole,” Jim offered to no one in particular. It was the right thing to do, as much as it galled him to lift a finger to help Eddie.

“He’ll get his car. But Vince’ll bring it back,” Dom stated with finality and the beginnings of conviction.

“Hey, you all got quiet all of a sudden, what’s up?” Mia chirped happily as she came down the back steps of the diner with a plate for Jim, leaving it in front of him. In her other hand she had a platter with some more sausages and hash browns which ended up on the table between Dom and Brian. Behind her, Amber carried a carafe of coffee which Dom took from her before she started to pour coffee for everyone, insisting that she sit.

Dom waited until Mia sat beside Brian once more, helping herself to a cup of coffee, before he explained. “We need to try to get Eddie’s car back before he loses his badge.”

Mia gasped quietly, her face strained; she knew what it had cost Brian to lose his badge, the months upon months before he was accepted to work at the security consultant agency. When he was lost. “How? What can we do to help him?”

“Kinda funny, ain’t it? Going from not wanting to piss on him if he was on fire to wanting to help put him right?” Jim shook his head, chuckling as he dug into the plate that Mia had prepared.

“He’s one of us. Or at least he was.” It was enough for Dom and his word was final. Pointing a piece of toast at Brian, he continued. “Maybe we could track down a number for V. Cell or something.”

Brian was already nodding. “Yeah, we could do that. Maybe we’ll luck out and he doesn’t have one of those anonymous deals.” It was a slim chance, but a chance.

Dom pushed his plate aside, pointing at Mia to stay seated before she made to clean up after him. “Take care of the phone number, Bri. There’s something I have to take care of.” Turning in the seat to face Amber, Dom leaned in and kissed her behind the ear. “I need to try to track down a car. Hang out with Mia for a while?”

“I need to take care of some paperwork; it’s due by the end of the week. Mia, is that…”

Mia didn’t want Amber feeling like she was being volunteered and so interrupted quickly. “Fine,” she smiled. “Go! Go! I was hoping to go into town and pick up something special for dinner. You’re staying, right, Jim?” It always felt like a celebration having her brother home again; that hadn’t changed even though the things that kept him away had.

“Not only stayin’ but bringing a date. If that’s okay?” Jim turned to look at Mia just as he finished his breakfast. Everyone looked at Jim, questioning silently. They all had ideas about who it would be but no one wanted to say, in case they were wrong. “Well, would you look at alla you?” Jim reached out and patted Amber’s arm before he stood up from the table. “Shirley’ll be coming out here to meet me after she’s finished up.” Jim looked at his watch as he grinned back at Amber’s wide smile, patting her hand before he let go. “Thought that might do it. It’s just after one now, she should be here in a few hours. Dom, I’ll help you out with that car. Maybe we get lucky and can pick something up today,” he said, jerking a thumb over his shoulder at his tow truck.

Dom’s hand trailed over Amber’s thigh as he stood up, gathering the dishes into a pile. What he couldn’t carry, Brian did, and they disappeared into the back of the diner.

Grinning across the table at Jim, Amber stood also. “Are you two dating now?”

“Think so. Haven’t made anything official or anything…” Jim was cut off before he could say anything else as Amber flung herself at him, hugging him across the picnic table, catching both Jim and Mia by surprise.

It surprised Amber as well, as her arms tightened around Jim’s neck; there was a time it would have been unthinkable, hugging a man like that. “And she’s coming out here?” Jim grinned out a reply, as Amber pulled back sheepishly to her side of the picnic table, letting out a sigh.

Mia dropped her head and chuckled quietly. “I’ll bring out something cold for you guys before I head out. You help me later, Amber?” she asked as she headed back to the diner, Dom and Brian passing her.

Halfway across the driveway, Amber walked backwards as she answered Mia. “Of course! I’ll be on the porch; just give me a shout!”

Dom passed behind Amber on his way back to the garage, settling a hand on her hip. “I’ll come get you.”

“See you then.” There was enough heat in the look that passed between them to make Amber blush and she dropped her head before looking up at him again, nearly walking into the fence post on the way back to her house.
–

Dom and Brian sat on opposite sides of a makeshift table set up in one of the garage bays, heads lowered as they pored over classified ads. Brian had spent almost an hour on the phone with various contacts trying to get a cell phone number, or anything at all for that matter, on Vince; all to no avail.

For years, Vince had flown under the radar, the last time anyone had seen him officially had been to treat his arm; he had disappeared shortly after that. Brian had only managed to get a hold of the Lakeside address because he knew the general area where Vince would be, and took the time to look. Officially, Vince didn’t exist.

For a while, Dom had helped Jim work on something in the Chevy’s engine until he realized that he was putting off the inevitable. Without a word, he had set up the table, pulling out the chair from his room and a bucket for another chair. A stack of car classifieds was dropped in the middle of the table, along with a battered Rolodex that Dom had carried with him for years and he and Brian set to work, poring over ads, looking for a car that could pass for Eddie’s.

Every once in a while the phone in the garage would ring and one of them would rise to get it, listening. Taking down a name and number in some cases, hanging up quietly in others. It didn’t look like they were going to get lucky. Mia came and went, dropping off a pitcher of iced tea and glasses before driving out to Desolation to pick up a food order she had called in earlier.

“Fuck.” Dom slammed the last classified ad magazine closed, shoving it across the table with a sigh. He hadn’t slept, aside from the half hour he had managed while Amber drove back to the garage and all the words were starting to blur together. If he hadn’t been looking for a match for Eddie’s car, it’s likely that he would have been able to find hundreds. Now that he needed one, he couldn’t find a single advertisement for what he wanted. What they had managed to find wasn’t usable, or had been sold already. Dom had even offered a lot of money to buy from someone that had recently bought a car through an ad and got turned down. “We’re getting nowhere.”

Putting down the phone for the umpteenth time, Brian walked back to the table, pulling out the bucket he had been sitting on. Arms crossed, Brian stretched out on the table, groaning as his spine popped. “V could still bring it back,” he stated quietly, hopefully.

Dom sighed, leaning on his elbows, the heels of his hands ground into his eyes. “Yeah. Fuck, I need a break from this for a bit. We’re gonna need to pick up more mags. Might have to go out as far as California.”

The plume of dust as Mia returned broke up the solemn mood in the garage and Brian clapped Dom on the shoulder. “We’ll take it up again after. I’ll go help Mia. Go see Amber.” Unsaid was that seeing Amber would make Dom happy.

Fuck, getting old, Dom thought as he groaned, his back popping, and got up from the table. Jim and Brian were already at the back of Mia’s car, helping her to pull bags and boxes out of the back of her car and into the diner.

At the fence post that separated the garage from Amber’s place, Dom leaned for a moment, watching Amber as she worked outside on her laptop, oblivious to everything around her. The sound of his boot on the bottom step pulled her head up, momentarily startled, frightened. It passed just as quickly, replaced by a soft smile when she realized it was him.

A hand raised to shield her eyes, she looked up at him, her smile wider. “Hi. Does Mia need me yet?”

He walked across the porch and moved behind her, nudging her forward a little until he had room to sit behind her. “Not yet. No, just stay.” Amber had been about to set aside her laptop but he stopped her before she could, just content to sit with her. With a hand on her belly, he leaned back and let his head rest against one of the supports of the porch.

After a few moments, Amber relaxed against the warm expanse of his chest, cradled against his body between bent knees, the laptop all but ignored on her lap. It felt good to be held, just held, Dom’s calloused hand heavy against her belly, warm enough that the skin beneath began to sweat. It felt good.

“You’re not typin’,” he murmured, the smile easy to read in his voice.

Clicking the laptop closed and setting it to the side, Amber drew her knees up and leaned back more heavily against him, pulling his other hand across her belly. “I got a little distracted. Who knows what the hell I’d type. I’d probably have to redo it all tomorrow.”

She couldn’t see him, but Dom slitted open his eyes to watch her. The lines of her neck, the strands of hair that clung there in the heat, the way the sun shone through the delicate skin of her ears. “Did you want to be left alone?” Not that he wanted to leave, or that he thought she wanted him to. He was going somewhere but he wasn’t sure. Didn’t know exactly what he wanted to say.

Shifting, Amber looked at him over her shoulder, the ghost of a smile, and then she lay back once more, her head against his shoulder. “No, I don’t want to be alone. I can finish it tomorrow.”

Things with women had always just happened in the past, without thought and without him asking. Even with Letty, despite their having been together for years in their own fashion, there had never been any sort of a declaration. It dawned on him that he had never once called Letty his girlfriend, never mind anything else; she was always just Letty and that’s how he referred to her. It was fucked up to get to forty and have that simple thing be so strange.

Holding her close, Dom stroked Amber’s sides, first over her shirt and then under it, against her skin. Lost in thought, in all the things that he should say. Amber didn’t press, just laid back against him, her breath even. It was comfortable, completely comfortable, and didn’t have to be anything more than what it was, just good.

Coming around the side of the fence, Brian rapped his boot against the post in lieu of knocking, bringing them both out of the sleepy sun-doze they were in. “I didn’t think this could get any more perfect,” Dom purred in her ear, pulling his hands out from under Amber’s shirt as Brian walked up to them.

“Thought you might want these,” Brian grinned at them both, squinting a little against the light as he extended his hand with two ice cold beers. Dom took both, opening them and handing one to Amber.

“Oh damn, that’s good.” Amber sighed and leaned back against Dom, closing her eyes. Droplets of condensation tracked over her shoulder as Dom took a deep pull, making her skin shudder there.

Brian leaned on the other side of the porch, against the opposite support and hid his grin behind the bottle. They look good together. It was good to see Dom with someone; not just a random fuck, like Heather, or someone that was just always around, like Letty had been, but someone that he looked good with. Happy with. Wanted to spend time with. Brian had tried to stay out of Mia’s matchmaking, but he had to admit, they really did look good together.

Looking back over his shoulder, Brian got to what he had come across the driveway for. “Need your help, bro. We’re gonna set up the grill and shit. Mia’s got a whole bunch of good looking stuff but it’d be better on an open grill, you know?”

It was one of those oddities. Put Dom in Mia’s kitchen and he’d make a mess of her grill, making her kick him out before she lost it. Put him in front of a grill outside and he was a god, a master of brush and tongs. That was probably true of men everywhere.

Dom grinned and made to move out from behind Amber, stopping at the last moment to hold her tightly from behind, his lips against the skin of her neck. It was as though, for a brief moment, they were completely alone. “Come back here after?” he whispered against her ear.

“I’d like that.” Feeling the heat creep up the back of her neck, Amber cuddled into the embrace, soaking up the feel of it. “I should go help out Mia.”

Dom stood and pulled Amber to her feet, handing her the laptop as he did so. Kissing the spot just above her ear, he murmured to her, “Later then.”

Amber stood on the porch steps as Dom walked back with Brian, stifling a giggle as he did almost exactly what she had done earlier, walking into the fence post. His good natured grin back at her when he did it made her laugh and she had to turn and run back into the house, dropping off her laptop before she crossed the driveway to help out Mia. Dom, Brian and Jim had set up a huge open grill in the driveway before the garage, working to get the coals started.

The inside of the diner was cool and quiet, except for the radio in the kitchen, turned down low. Mia was cutting thick steaks off a long strip and Amber moved to the other side, cutting up a bag of chicken wings.

“You look good,” Mia smiled up at Amber as she moved from steaks, cleaning the counter, to making different kinds of salad. Amber glowed in a way that couldn’t be explained away by the golden color of her skin after some time in the sun.

“Yeah, I’m good,” Amber agreed quietly, unable to look up right away, but when she did, she beamed across the counter top, fighting the giggle by biting her bottom lip. A deep breath and then she looked up at Mia. “I’m happy.”

Coming around the counter, Mia hugged her, as much as she was able, keeping her hands out to the side. What Mia wanted to do was grab both her big brother and Amber and hug them both but she settled for Amber, grinning before she wiped away a stray tear. “Me too. I can’t remember ever seeing Dom this content….No, it’s true,” Mia reassured, at Amber’s disbelieving look. “Seems I’ve waited forever for this day. Damn, I’m going to start crying again.”

Holding up a couple of onions, Amber laughed. “We’ll blame these.”

Mia flicked her with a towel as she went back to her side of the counter once more, throwing in the last of the ingredients before digging in and mixing everything together. “Those guys won’t be long out there once the meat starts going down, we should carry all this stuff out.”

With a damp cloth over one arm, Mia piled several bowls with salads together until Amber didn’t know how she would see past them, and carried them out back. The tubs of meat were far too heavy to carry, so Amber grabbed up bowls of cut rolls and bags of corn chips; she had to nearly run at the end, as everything threatened to fly out of her hands.

Even then, a stray bun rolled off the table and across the gravel driveway, like it was determined to make a good run for it. Both Mia and Amber watched it go for a moment before falling into giggles. Amber helped Mia wipe all the bottoms of the salad bowls, pushing everything as close to the middle of the table as possible.

Before they could go back in for more, they were stopped by Brian, who got a quick arm around Amber’s waist just as she reached the bottom step, turning her around and setting her on her feet again. Mia tensed, shooting a worried look first at Amber and then at Dom. Amber seemed surprised but not frightened, a reassuring look from Mia enough to put her at ease. Dom hadn’t missed it either, as he stoked the coals for the grill; he watched carefully, smiling warmly at Mia and dropping his head when he knew it was okay.

Like a general marshaling his troops, Dom manned the grill, turning the coals over, while he sent in Brian and Jim to bring out the tubs of meat from the kitchen. Soon the still late afternoon air filled with the smell of roasting meat.

The two women had made a valiant effort to help, only to be driven back to the table, cold beers now in hand. Mia leaned across the table and snickered as Amber took a pull from her beer. “Man’s work,” she whispered.

They both laughed, only stopping and raising their heads again as they heard the sound of a car pulling into the driveway. Curious, Mia got up first, with Amber not that far behind. “Shirley!” Handing her beer over to Mia, Amber half ran across the driveway, stopping just before she bowled Shirley over as she got out of her car.

Resplendent in a calf length pale green sundress and hat, Shirley eyed her friend carefully for a moment, taking in a number of changes at once. The confidence, the glow in her skin, the smile. The way that she ran across to greet her. “Well now, honey, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?” Stepping forward, she hugged Amber, kissing her cheek and dropping to a whisper, just between them. Perfectly manicured nails tucked under Amber’s chin, holding her there. “You look good.”

In response, Amber grinned widely but it wasn’t lost on Shirley that her eyes cut to Dom, before dropping quickly. “I thought so,” she smiled down at Amber, pulling her into another embrace. “I brought tequila! But now, there’s someone else I came here to see.”

Amber looked over at Jim, who leaned against the fender of his truck, grinning at them both. “I’ll go get glasses?” Amber took the tequila, smiling at the label, before she let Shirley go.

On her way to see Jim, Shirley passed behind the grill, her arm going comfortably around Dom’s waist, one arm on his forearm. It wasn’t flirting although the line was fine with Shirley; she said nothing, just watched Dom for a moment. Looking for the same things that she had looked for in Amber and smiling quietly when she saw them; it was always harder to tell with men, they were better at hiding what they felt. Only when she was pleased with what she saw did she walk over to Jim and kiss him, sharing a look; Jim had saw the same thing in both Amber and Dom; he and Shirley had spoken about it before.

With a wave of his tongs, Dom grinned and sent Jim back to the picnic table with Shirley. “Just means you’re gonna have to carry all this,” he turned to Brian, smirking as he loaded more meat on a large platter that Mia had put next to the grill.

“Brian!” he barked, as first one and then two chicken wings disappeared into Brian’s mouth. There was a part of Dom that was a little pissed off but it couldn’t last, not looking at Brian’s face, with two chicken bones sticking out on either side of his mouth. Shaking his head, Dom turned over the last of the steaks, warning Brian off with the tongs. “I’ll carry those, or who knows how many will be gone by the time it gets to the table.”

Smirking, Brian balanced the tray and carried it back to the picnic table. The steaks got piled up on the platter and Dom shook his head at the sight of all the food; Mia did the same thing every time and he loved it but it was a reminder too, that there was a time when she didn’t expect him to come back. When she didn’t expect any of them to come back. One last rake of the coals was enough to let the last embers die and Dom wiped off his hands on a wet cloth hung over the side.

They had waited until Dom came to sit down at the end of the table and he held back until Mia had finished jumping up, pulling Amber from where she sat next to Shirley, moving her over to sit right beside Dom. “Thanks, Mia. Who wants to say grace?”

Amber looked around the table as she realized that Dom was looking at her and her jaw dropped slightly, unsure where to go. Swallowing, she took the two hands that reached out on either side of hers, Dom’s and Mia’s and lowered her head, scrambling to remember grace from some other meal. Dom had always just said ‘Grace’.

“Bless this meal, and the company of friends.” On either side of her, Dom and Mia squeezed her hands and didn’t let go right away; she had to bite her bottom lip, glad that her eyes were closed or she was sure that she would cry. Mia let go first, sticking a fork in one of the steaks and dropping it on Dom’s plate, repeating the action for Amber. Then Brian took over from her, serving everyone else. Only then did Dom let go of her hand with a final squeeze.

Bowls were passed around the table and everyone loaded up. “We’re never going to get to the bottom of all these!” Mia quipped with a nervous laugh; most of the dishes looked as though they hadn’t been touched.

“I guess everyone’s going to be eating salad for the next three days,” Dom fired back. “Maybe we could give it away.”

“Really? Yeah, I think we could do that. Right, Amber?” Mia knew that Dom was likely half joking but  it seemed like an idea; there was no way they could finish everything. When Amber nodded, Mia looked up again, turning to both Brian and Dom. “Did you manage to find a car?”

“Not yet. I’m thinking we might have to go pick up some ad mags out of California tomorrow. I put up ads online but I haven’t got anything back yet,” Dom said as he reached for another piece of garlic bread.

“Is there anything I can do?”

Smiling at his sister, Dom shook his head. “Not really; just a whole lot of looking.”

The conversation was light, talking about things in the shop and the diner. Shirley filled in Amber on all the goings on at her last job and Amber did the same for hers.  Jim sat quietly, listening to everything. Being quiet, it was Jim that heard someone pull into the driveway and he peeked his head around the corner of the side of the diner.  “Well, shitfire.”

At the sound of a car door slamming, Dom made to get up, telling whoever it was that they were busy; if they were regulars, he’d probably invite them to join. He never got the chance, as Mia was up from the table before he could stop her. “It’s probably just a regular,” she said as she looked at her watch. “It’s a little early for dinner but that’s no…”

The sight of Vince walking across the driveway towards the picnic table had stolen whatever it was she was about to say. On the other side of the table, Jim grinned, keeping quiet; he had been the first to spot Eddie’s car pull into the driveway.

In his heart, Dom had known that Vince would bring Eddie’s car back, but he was old enough to know that it was more hope than anything else. Something that he wanted to happen, but not something that he really expected. He would have stood but he didn’t really know what he would have done. Vince didn’t give him much of a chance.

Without a word, Vince walked around the picnic table and stood beside Dom, resting a hand on Dom’s shoulder as he leaned down and planted a kiss on Dom’s forehead. Mia skipped across to the diner stairs, galloping up them to get Vince a plate, while Brian moved down a little on the bench, making room for him.

Before Vince managed to take a seat, Dom had reached over and pulled him into a tight hug, squeezing Vince as he thumped him hard on the back. The last time that Vince had done that, come home sheepishly after leaving, Dom had grumbled and pointed to a place at the table but it didn’t seem right this time around. “It’s good to have you back, brother,” Dom said quietly against the skin of Vince’s neck, not caring what it looked like; he didn’t give a shit. Neither let go right away. Finally Dom sat back, cuffing Vince’s ear, holding it for a moment; it felt right to have him back, sitting at the table with them.

Mia dashed out of the back door of the diner with a place setting for Vince, but Dom had already shoved his plate over to him, even offering his beer. So Mia came up behind Vince, leaving her hand on his shoulder as she passed the plate to Dom, replacing his beer into the bargain.

With a beer back in his hand, Dom took a sip and turned to Vince. “You know almost everyone here. A few new.” A nod to the end of the table, and Dom introduced first Shirley and then Jim; Vince reached around Brian to shake Jim’s hand, and in front to shake Shirley’s, more gently. Turning to Amber, Dom put his beer down and held her hand, “And this is my girlfriend, Amber.”

There was a held breath, a pause as he eyed Dom carefully, thoughtfully, and then Vince reached across to shake Amber’s hand as well. Sitting back, Dom didn’t let go of her hand for a few moments, just listening to the talk back and forth as Vince talked with Brian, Mia and Jim seemingly all at the same time, getting caught up. With a last squeeze of her hand, Dom let go, pushing his chair back and getting up. “There’s something I have to do; back in a minute.”

When Dom walked into the shade of the garage he looked back at the picnic table, catching Amber’s eye as she hurriedly looked back down; that felt good too. It took some searching and Dom realized that, although he had scribbled down Eddie’s number from time to time, it was never something that he made a point to commit either to memory, or somewhere he would keep important numbers. After moving aside some pins on the cork board over the back counter, he managed to find Eddie’s cell number, and punched in the numbers, waiting for an answer.

“Masters.”

Dom bit back a sarcastic comment, remembering all the things that Eddie had done, that he hadn’t had to do. That Dom hadn’t expected him to do. “Dom. I’ve got a little something here I think you might be interested in.”

On the other side of the line, Eddie’s feet came off the desk they were leaning on; he had been trying to get some rest, trying to think about what he was going to say to his boss about the car. That Dom had called offered out a sliver of hope that Eddie didn’t want to believe in, to trust in. The silence stretched out and Eddie leaned his elbows on the desk as he held the phone, one hand fisted in his hair; he wanted to yell, but didn’t. “Really? What…”

It should have made Dom happy to hear Eddie squirm on the other side of the line, but it didn’t. It was impossible to hear Eddie and not think of Brian and what it had cost him; Dom realized that he didn’t want to make Eddie have to ask him. “Vince brought your car back; it’s here if you want it.”

All the muscles in Eddie’s body trembled and he felt light headed with relief. After a deep breath, he felt safe enough to talk, “Is it okay to come pick it up tonight?”

The relief in Eddie’s voice couldn’t be hidden and once again Dom thought about Brian. Too late to do anything about that and he knew that Brian would have done it all over again. “Yeah. We’re having dinner out back, just come get it. We’ll leave the keys in it for you.”

“Thanks, I’ll do that,” Eddie got out as his confidence began to come back. “And Dom? Thanks.”

“No problem. Stay for dinner.” Knowing what it cost Eddie to thank him, Dom hung up rather than wait for a reply. Walking back to the picnic table, he couldn’t help but feel pretty good about it.

“What’d I miss?” he asked when he got back to join the others.

With his forkful of steak, Brian pointed at Vince. “I was just thinking that you’ve been talking about needing another mechanic.”

Everyone at the table stopped whatever they were doing and looked at Dom. He knew that he had never once made mention of needing another mechanic, it had just never come up, but that didn’t mean that he was against it, especially if it meant that Vince would stay. That Brian likely instigated it didn’t surprise Dom in the least. “Yeah, we’ve had some body work that I’ve been looking to contract out, but it’d be better to keep it in the shop if we could,” he lied, not feeling bad at all about it. “Interested?”

A quick look around the rest of the table and then Vince looked back at Dom. There wasn’t really a decision to be made; he knew that he would take it, that he wanted it, the moment that Mia and Brian, even Jim, had insisted he come back. “Hell yeah. I’m kinda screwed for somewhere to stay though.” Brian and Mia had offered to put him up but that hadn’t felt right so he had said that he’d find a place in town.

“You can stay here,” Dom stated with finality although he wasn’t sure where Vince would stay. “We can sort it out later.”

The friendship with Vince was an old one, a deep one and Amber had sat quietly and listened to all the talk at the table. Waiting for Dom to finish, she turned to him. “You could stay with me, and he could have your room.” Feeling everyone look at her, Amber shrank within her skin until Mia put a hand at her back. On the other side, Dom reached out for hand, touched by her offer. Blushing furiously, Amber continued, “Not forever of course, I didn’t mean that, but…”

“Done. V can take my room for a few days,” Dom interrupted her, kissing her cheek, feeling the heat underneath.

“You’ve easily got room for a pretty big trailer out there if you wanted to,” Brian said as he came back with more cold beer for everyone; he’d clearly planned out more than just a mechanic’s job.

“I drove past something on the way back into Desolation. An old Airstream. It wouldn’t take much to outfit it,” Jim chimed in as he took a beer from Brian, opening it and passing it to Shirley before he took another.

“I’m thinking that’s settled then. S’at okay, V?” Dom leaned back in the chair, feeling content.

“Yeah,” Vince got out finally. It was as though no time at all had passed. The sun wasn’t near setting yet but it was already getting cool, the air just warm, not blistering hot. There was no counting the number of evenings that he had spent with Dom and Mia, the rest of the team, around one picnic table or another. Enjoying a meal, a few beers. The company most of all. It was good to be back and Vince felt a lump in his throat that he wasn’t ready to cope with. “Bathroom inside, Mia?”

“Yeah, on the left once you get in.”

“Hit the kitchen and bring an extra plate and stuff on your way back out,” Dom barked before Vince disappeared inside, drawing curious looks from the rest of the table. “Eddie’s coming by to pick up his car.” It was simply stated, and not elaborated upon; Dom didn’t really have much to say about it that hadn’t already been said. For a brief while, Eddie had been one of them.

Taking the plate off Vince when he came back outside, Mia hovered around the table, unsure of what to do. “Maybe we should put something aside for him, so it doesn’t get cold?”

“He’s not going to kill a lot of time getting out here,” Brian said quietly, playing with the condensation on the bottom of the beer bottle. “If anything, the minute he was off the phone, I bet he was in a cab five minutes later, if that. It’s not going to take long.”

“He’s thinking I was just fucking with him, or that I’ll change my mind,” Dom said into the space between Mia and Brian, talking to them both at once and no one in particular.

Mia opened her mouth to say something, anything, and closed it again when Brian shook his head at her. If Dom had called and said to pick up his car, Brian knew that he would have dropped everything to go get it. At the time.

“I was thinking we could go look at that trailer tomorrow; I doubt anyone’s going to drive by there between now and then.” Jim broke the uncomfortable silence when he got up, collecting empty beer bottles from the table.

With a grin, Mia scrambled up from the table when Jim did, squeezing Amber’s waist and keeping her sitting next to Dom. “A little surprise, to go with Shirley’s tequila,” and with that, she was up, nimbly darting up the stairs after Jim, passing him in the hallway as he grabbed bottles of beer from a bucket of ice they had left in the shade of the diner’s hallway.

“You need help?” Jim shot over his shoulder as he watched Mia climb up a step ladder to rummage at the back of a shelf.

Moving some tins and small boxes around, Mia pulled down what she had stashed earlier, two bags of Oreo cookies. Tucking one under her arm and one in her teeth, she made her way back down the ladder, with Jim taking her arm before she hit the bottom, taking the cookies from her with a snort of laughter. “That’s a whole lot of trouble for some cookies.”

Her mouth free, Mia broke into a huge grin. “You’d think so, wouldn’t you? You know how long they would have lasted if either of those two knew they were here?”

“Dom?” he asked, “Or Brian?”

“Six of one, half a dozen of the other,” she joked easily with him, pushing the stepladder away and dusting off her clothes.

Jim leaned against a spot on the wall, waiting for her. “That’s about how they’d divvy them up too; half dozen at a time. Guess I’m keepin’ that spot a secret?”

“That would be best; I’m running out of places to hide stuff like that.” She grabbed a large plate and poured out all the cookies from both bags, tucking some limes into the front of her shirt. “Do you really think that trailer will still be there tomorrow?”

A sly grin crept up on one side of his mouth as he looked back at her. “It will if I call them first. I’ll go pick it up tomorrow mornin’ some time. We can get started on it.” He moved out of the way, letting Mia walk in front of him towards the back door. “Don’t think Dom’ll much mind staying with her though.”

Both laughing, they rejoined the others at the table, pushing some things out of the way to make room for the plate of cookies and the limes. “Damn! I forgot to bring a knife for those!”

Mia was about to turn and run back to the diner, only to be stopped by Jim. “I got this one. You been jumpin’ up all night. Sit.” Jim pulled a blade from somewhere and cut up two of the limes into wedges before she had taken a seat.

“You’re a handy man to have around,” Shirley drawled seductively, pulling five shot glasses together at one go with her fingertips and dropping them in front of her, pouring tequila to go with the fresh lime wedges.

Throwing back a shot with the others, Dom got up from the table at the sound of a car pulling into the driveway. “I got it,” he said quietly as he let go of Amber’s hand and walked around the picnic table out into the driveway.

Eddie Masters, looking the worse for wear, stood by the driver’s door of the cab. He hadn’t changed out of the clothes that he had worn when they had stopped the truck, and clearly hadn’t gone home yet. Dom leaned in the window of his red car, taking the keys from the ignition; old habits died hard and Dom knew that Vince would leave the keys inside. It made running easier, if bad came to worse. That had always been the idea.

“You look like shit.” Dom grinned and tossed the keys to Eddie who looked down at them like he didn’t quite know what they were. Couldn’t believe that they were in his hands. A nod over his shoulder and the cabbie pulled out; he had haggled with the driver about staying, waiting. Driving him back again if need be.

It took too long; too tired and strung out for sarcasm or bitterness, Eddie settled on a smirk. “What? No kiss?”

Dom huffed; humor was odd and strained with them, unfamiliar territory when everything had been said to cut at one point. “How about we start with dinner first, maybe take it from there?” They stood about a foot or so away from each other but it felt like more.

“Fair enough, Toretto.” It was Eddie that held his hand out first, holding fast through a handshake that was all the thanks either could muster, at least face to face; it had been easier to say thanks over the phone.

“Letty,” Dom asked, not moving from where they stood at the end of the driveway.

Dropping the keys into his pocket, Eddie rubbed a hand over his face; just mention of the woman’s name made him feel tired. “It took long enough, but she talked. Rolled on Brightman.” Sighing, he continued, “The statement will help her out a lot but she’s still going to do time though; there’s not really a way around that, but it’ll likely be less. Good behavior maybe.”

Snorting in disgust, Dom shook his head, looking out down the expanse of road. “She’ll never be able to keep her mouth shut. Letty and good behavior don’t belong in the same sentence.” Looking back at Eddie, Dom nodded his head towards the others.

Falling into place beside Dom, they walked back towards the picnic table. “I pushed pretty hard for a lighter program. Some sort of anger management. Counseling. Rehabilitation.”

Dom just nodded, feeling quiet. Letty might have made her own bed, but that didn’t mean lying in it wasn’t hard. Wouldn’t be hard for the people that knew her. He thought of Vince and wondered how he would take it; if he’d be pissed off or relieved. Hurt. “Thanks.” Dom dropped an arm across Eddie’s shoulders as they rounded the corner of the diner, a brief squeeze, a hard pat, and then he was gone, a last friendly shove towards the table.

Everybody moved at once. Dom sat back in his spot at the end of the table, picking up the beer he had left in the shade of his chair. Everyone on Amber’s side of the table moved down a little to make room for Eddie, until Amber was perched on the very edge of the bench. Putting his beer down again, Dom reached out and fluidly pulled her onto his lap, grinning first at her surprised squawk and then at her blush. Mia passed Amber her beer and fixed Eddie a plate over his objections.

Vince stood and reached across the table to shake Eddie’s hand, passing him a cold beer with the other, while Shirley poured more tequila, leaving a shot glass in front of his plate. Feeling a little overwhelmed at the sincerity from people that he had gone out of his way to antagonize, he raised his drink with the others, a silent toast. No one said to what and he didn’t ask; it was good.
–

On and on Brightman’s car drove. Occasionally he tried to speed up but where was there to go? The hard Sonoran desert stretched out around them for miles, what inhabited places they passed were small and rundown. Far from any sort of law but their own and Brightman would find no help there, if that’s what he sought.

Like a predator too old to take down fleet prey, Mike watched and waited for signs of weakness. Up ahead, Brightman’s car swerved, slowed, jolted forward once more, a dying beast on its last legs. Before his trip out into the desert, Mike had made sure to fill the tank; he knew what it would hold, how far it would take him. All of the plans that Brightman had made and he was about to be finally undone by a few liters of gasoline.

Seizing the moment, Mike pressed forward, hitting the gas a mere second before he slammed into the back of Brightman’s car. Not enough to smash anything, not enough to drive him off the road. Enough to piss him off which is exactly what he wanted, to get Brightman angry enough to stop thinking. Pulling back, he waited until there was again a car’s length between them and did it again. Hit twice, Brightman’s black sedan lumbered across the midline, the guttering of the engine clearly heard.

A last burst of speed and Brightman shot ahead, the nose of the car slewing around as though Brightman hoped to make a last futile dash across the desert. Calmly, Mike watched him as he screamed and raged, slamming his fists against the steering wheel when he became mired in the loose soil just off the shoulder.

The handgun was in Mike’s hand as he hit the ground, rolling smoothly out of the passenger side as Brightman stormed out of his car. Shots rang out, wild shots, and Mike risked a glance over the fender of his car, watching as Brightman continued to stand in the middle of the road shooting.

It wasn’t anything new for Mike, although in civilian life he usually went out of his way to not have people shoot at him. Seven, eight; Mike counted the shots. Counted the spaces between like some people counted lightning strikes. Nine. Brightman’s rage hadn’t so much subsided as changed form, the anger more calculated but it didn’t really matter to Mike anymore. Another peek over the edge of the fender. Ten.

Mike scuttled back along the steel skin of his car as Brightman circled around, contemplating the most vital question in his world. How many shots were in Brightman’s clip. Was it twelve? Fifteen? Sixteen? Twenty-one? There was no way for Mike to know but what he knew for sure was that Brightman was ten shots down. Eleven.

As Mike easily evaded Brightman around the side of the car, Brightman screamed in frustration, firing a couple more shots that zinged across the hood, leaving trails of bright silver like comet tails in the paint.

Mike waited until Brightman circled around the back of the car, coming out onto the road again on the driver’s side. Calm, serene, Mike swung up smoothly and fired off a clean shot, not to kill but to wound. Brightman howled in pain as the bullet tore through his arm; muscles on fire, his hand twitched once, twice, shots firing impotently into the blacktop before he dropped the gun, unable to hold it any more. Spitting obscenities that all bled together into long strings, Brightman rushed at Mike.

He had a clean shot at Brightman but didn’t take it, instead tucking the handgun into the holster at his back as Brightman ran full out at him, his right arm flopping loosely at his side. Sidestepping easily, Mike slammed a fist into Brightman’s ribs before he brought his boot up and kicked out, slamming a heel into Brightman’s lower back.

Stumbling, Brightman lost his balance in the loose soil at the side of the road and nearly went down, kicking out sand fans as he struggled for balance. A struggle in vain as Mike kicked out again, sweeping a boot along the inside of Brightman’s leg. Brightman sprawled out onto his belly in the dirt, shrieking mindlessly with fury.

Scrabbling over the desert scrubland first on his belly and then flipping over, Brightman scooted backwards away from Mike, pushing off his left arm, avoiding his right as much as he could. Mike advanced, stalking Brightman out into the desert, farther from the road. He wondered briefly if Brightman knew what was happening, if he could have stopped scuttling backwards even if he knew. Out into the desert.

“They’re never gonna convict me, you useless old fucker, no matter what shit you’ve…” Brightman spat venomously, dissolving into obscenities as he cursed his ex-wife, Heather, Letty, other women, for his situation.

Brightman didn’t hear it anymore and it wouldn’t have mattered; he was in another place, another plane. Listening to the high desert wind as it shifted, cooling at the fall of night. Brightman didn’t matter, except to himself, he simply wasn’t that important.

What he said was also true and Mike knew that no court would convict him. Sure, what he had done was wrong, there was no doubt there, but the companies, the interests, behind Brightman would never tolerate him speaking in a court of law. They would hide behind national security and, without anyone to testify, nothing could be known about what Brightman did. There was no court of law that could deal with him.

No court of law. There were other laws. Pulling the gun from the holster at his back, Mike stood over Brightman, stepping forward to match the other man as he continued to push back across the sand. “I find you guilty.”

Awareness dawned on Brightman’s face, his eyes widening as his good arm came up, shaking no to emphasize his words. It didn’t matter; Mike wasn’t listening anymore. The first shot drove hard into Brightman’s chest, dead center of mass. Clean, cleaner than Brightman should have gotten; then again, anything else would make more of Brightman than he deserved. A second shot in the head to seal the deal.

Evening fell in the space of time that Mike stood over the dead body of Brightman. It was only a matter of moments, the sun already setting when they had began, but it was fitting. Brightman’s blood looked inky and black as it soaked into the dirt. Small desert creatures that only came out at night scuttled closer; when Mike left, he knew that the coyotes would come out after he was gone and finish what little work they had started. In a matter of weeks there would be nothing left. Maybe bones if someone went looking. No one would.

Leaving Brightman where he lay, Mike walked back to his car, reaching in to pull his cigarettes from the dash and lighting up, leaning casually against the driver’s door as the last of the sun disappeared in a thin orange line at the horizon. He didn’t feel anything, just empty and tired.

With the front bumper of his car, Mike nudged Brightman’s car off the road and drove past, stopping a short distance away. The first shot was nowhere close but the second hit the gas tank and Mike got back into his car before Brightman’s black sedan went up with a dull whump, just enough fumes in the tank to ignite. Left alone it would burn all night.

Back at the crossroads, Mike sat silently looking out at the road. One way would take him back across the border, back to Desolation, to his life and everything that had never managed to fill it. Turning away, Mike headed out in the other direction, towards Tijuana.
-

Amber leaned back against the porch support, legs crossed, eyes closed, nibbling an Oreo cookie; she’d had enough of them about three cookies ago but they were good. She had helped Mia tidy up, at least tried to until Brian and even Vince had shooed them both away. Mia and Brian left at the same time as Eddie, but not before Mia had packaged up a sizable amount of the salads and other leftovers for him to take with him. Jim and Shirley had left after that. Vince and Dom had made short work of the grill and before long the picnic table at the back of the diner was cleared off.

Taking the plate of cookies with her, Amber walked back into her house, leaving the front door open to blow a cool breeze into the front room, riffling through the sheer curtains. All of the windows were open, letting in the cool desert air. She didn’t worry about it, about the open windows.

One more Oreo, and Amber covered the plate, leaving it on the kitchen counter. She debated whether to wear pajamas or not, but felt more comfortable at least starting in pajamas and got dressed in the bathroom before she went back to her bedroom. From her window, she could see Dom talking to Vince in his room, where Vince would stay until the trailer could be fixed up for him.

The sheets were cool and crisp after she changed them and she lay back, looking up at the ceiling. It reminded her of the first night that she had done so, staring at the ceiling, terrified at every sound. Now she waited for Dom. Her belly fluttered at the sound of his boots on the steps, at the door closing behind him. There had been a time in her life when that sound would fill her with terror, but out here in her tiny house in the middle of nowhere, it had a whole different feel.

Dom was quiet as he walked into Amber’s bedroom, toeing off his boots and crawling into bed beside her, still dressed. On her back, Amber smiled up at him as he lay beside her. “I could find you a pair of pajamas,” she joked with him.

“Maybe tomorrow night, those little blue ones,” he whispered back to her. Intently he looked down at her face in the little light that filtered through her window from the garage across the way. With everyone gone, he and Vince had spoken freely, comfortably. First about the others that were closest to the old team, and then about Amber.

You love her?

Vince had changed too, how he looked at things. Looked at women. He had asked if Dom loved her and Dom hadn’t been able to answer. At first he had been surprised that Vince would even ask him something like that. Asked him if he loved a car or an engine, sure, but never a woman; it had just never come up before, not once.

Having thought it, the thought wouldn’t leave but he knew that it wasn’t something he would take lightly, because Amber sure wouldn’t. And Amber deserved better than him just saying something because he thought he should, that he knew for sure.

Softly, he kissed the spot between her eyebrows, lipping downward to kiss her nose and finally settling on her lips. A gentle sweet kiss before he pulled her closer into the curve of his body, his hands never resting as he continued to caress her.

Love? Pretty simple, yeah, I love her.

“Just sleep.”

–END–
Copyright © June 2008 xxxevilgrinxxx